John Boehner increases chance of government shutdown
By: Jake Sherman and John Bresnahan February 17, 2011 11:54 AM EDT

The specter of a government shutdown grew exponentially Thursday when House Speaker John Boehner drew a hard line on government spending, promising to accept not even a temporary government-funding extension that doesn’t include serious cuts.

The move triggered an immediate and fierce response from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who ramped up a cross-chamber fight Democrats have been waging against House Republicans for weeks over whether the GOP spending-cut demands could culminate in a shutdown on March 4, the date the government runs out of money.

The firestorm was set off on Thursday when Boehner said he was “not going to move any kind of short-term [spending bill] at current levels.”

House Republicans are walking a fine-line of sticking to their guns on spending cuts, while risking a political backlash if Senate Democrats successfully pin any government shutdown on their unwillingness to compromise.

For now, Republicans are positioning themselves with a clear message to Reid and the White House: take our bill cutting current funding levels by more than $60 billion, or agree to some other cut in the short term, or risk a government shutdown.

Boehner aides declined to say how much of a cut the speaker would be willing to accept in order to keep the government open with a short-term continuing resolution.

Reid and other Democratic leaders said they were “terribly disappointed” in the speaker’s stance.

“I am disappointed that Speaker Boehner doesn’t believe he has the votes to avoid a government shutdown, unless his members get their way on all of their demands,” Reid said in a statement. “It is unproductive to resort to threats of a shutdown without any negotiations.”

“I think everybody recognizes there’s got to be some cuts” in any package, said Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad (D-N.D.), although he added that he doesn’t support the scale of reductions backed by House Republicans

While the Reid-Boehner debate has escalated, the calamity of a government shutdown is not certain.

Still, with both chambers gone next week for a President’s Day recess, just four days remain once Congress returns for the Senate to pass a bill, reconcile it with the House, and then merge the two pieces of legislation together. The Senate has shown no interest in the bill that’s being debated on the House floor.

Boehner and White House Chief of Staff Bill Daley quietly had dinner last night, just days after the White House said it would veto the bill being debated on the House floor.

“It’s very hot. It’s the ‘Showdown at O.K. Corral,” said Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) of the growing standoff between Reid and Boehner. “Both are loaded with live ammunition. I would say this – that the second guy to pull the trigger may be the best one, and that’s not the usual situation.”

White House budget director Jacob Lew said Thursday that the president will work to avoid a confrontation that forces a government shutdown or the veto of a spending bill.

“We very strongly believe the right thing to do is work together and avoid the kind of confrontation and conflict that might lead to a veto or a government shutdown,” Lew told reporters at a lunch hosted by the Christian Science Monitor. “There is no desire for that to come about.”

The Obama administration was not making contingency plans in case there was a shutdown, Lew said, despite a Washington Post report Thursday, citing unnamed sources, that federal agencies were instructing senior officials to begin preparations.

“We are planning on reaching the kind of agreements that make it unnecessary to put the American people through a government shutdown so don’t want to either intentionally or unintentionally send any signals that suggest that we’re planning to the contrary,” Lew added.

A short-term extension of the current spending law would be a method to buy time while the chambers work out a larger agreement. The possibility still exists that Boehner could support a short-term package with some budget cuts, said GOP aides.

Boehner and top Republicans insist that it would be Reid and the White House, not the speaker, who would be at fault if the governments shuts down.

And Boehner did not hesitate to go after the White House for criticizing Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) for his ongoing fight to slash spending in his state. State workers swarmed Madison on Thursday, while some Badger State Democrats fled in order to avoid voting on massive budget cuts.

“Rather than shouting down those in office who speak honestly about the challenges we face, the president and his advisors should lead. Until they do, they are not focusing on jobs, and they are not listening to the American people who put them in power,” Boehner said in a statement on Walker.

National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Pete Sessions (Texas) sent out a fundraising appeal using the GOP claim to have cut $100 billion from current funding levels.

Moderates in both parties were decrying the partisan battling, but it appears that it may get hotter before any deal is cut, replaying a time-honored Washington tradition, where the hardest punches are thrown right before a deal is made.

“There will always be a question whether somebody will blink, whether someone will blink. I don’t know the answer to that yet,” said Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.). “I am hoping that reason will prevail.”

Privately, some top Senate Republicans think Boehner “is holding a strong hand,” although they acknowledge the political risks are growing by the day.

“We always knew that this was going to be a game, that we would push against this [a government shutdown] at some point,” said a GOP senator, speaking on the condition of anonymity. “So the question really comes down to whether Harry Reid wants the argument with the public, ‘Look, we should have no cuts in order to keep going for a short term,’ or Boehner, who says, ‘Let’s at least have some.’ I think Boehner has the upper hand.”

If Reid agrees to any spending cuts, then in this senator’s view, “Reid is already half pregnant. Then you start the negotiations in earnest.”